A Guide for Gardeners Nursery & Garden Industry Northern Territory in Northern Territory The Nursery Industry - Protecting Our Environment 1) Index 1. Index and Acknowledgements 2. Introduction from the Ministers 3. Introduction 4. What is Grow Me Instead? 5. Establishing the criteria for Grow Me Instead 6. What you can do! 7. Controlling weeds 8. The Weeds and their alternatives 9. Further information and additional resources Acknowledgements The ‘Grow Me Instead’ project was first initiated by the Nursery and Garden Industry of NSW & ACT (NGINA) as a voluntary partnership with its member nurseries to encourage the removal from production and sale of plants known to be invasive in the natural environment. This Northern Territory ‘Grow Me Instead’ has been produced by NGIA in conjunction with the Australian Government. We sincerely thank all of the people who generously contributed their time and expertise and who provided a wealth of information towards the production of this booklet; with special thanks going to the members of the Nursery & Garden Industry Northern Territory and it’s Grow Me Instead Committee including: - Megan Connelly – RDPIFR - Jane Dellow – NGINT - Leanne Dzendolet – Allora Gardens Nursery - Geraldine Lee – Weeds Branch, NRETAS - Liza Schenkel – Greening Australia - Simon Smith – Girraween Nursery - Tim West – NTHA - Geoff Miers – Geoff Miers Garden Solutions Nursery Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts Mail: GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Phone: +61 (0)2 6274 1111 • Additional text by Noelle Weatherley. • The Nursery & Garden Industry Australia through it’s National GMI Committee – Delwyn Thomas (Project Manager), Robert Prince (Chief Executive Officer NGIA) Tracey Wigg (National PR and communications manager), Anthony Kachenko (National Environmental and Technical Policy Manager) and Robert Chin (NGIV) • The Blue Mountains City Council for providing the section on controlling weeds. For further information and additional resources please contact (02) 4780 5000. • The many people and organisations who contributed photographs used in this booklet. 2 Cover photo courtesy of the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens 2) Introduction from the Ministers The nursery and gardening industry has joined with the Australian Government in the fight against invasive garden plants. In championing this initiative, Nursery and Gardening Industry Australia (NGIA) is taking a significant step forward in tackling one of the nation’s most serious environmental problems – the spread of weeds. The Grow Me Instead campaign is a great industry-driven initiative providing relevant local information to nursery operators and gardeners about plants which are potential weeds in their area and less invasive plants for gardeners to use. This cooperation between the horticulture and nursery industries, the Australian Government and weed management bodies will help ensure horticulturalists and gardeners receive the information they need to combat the spread of weeds. It is estimated that weeds cost the Australian agricultural industry around $4 billion a year. The real cost of weeds to the environment is difficult to calculate, however it is likely to be at least equal to the cost to agriculture. Of the almost 3000 introduced plant species now known to be established in the Australian environment, 65% are ‘escaped’ garden plants. An important step in preventing the spread of weeds is public education to help change attitudes and behaviours that contribute to the weed problem. The Government is committed to investing in initiatives that have real on-ground benefits for the environment and for industry. We commend this initiative to you. The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP Minister for the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts The Hon Tony Burke MP Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 3 3) Introduction The Nursery and Garden Industry in Australia employs about 45,000 people in some 22,000 businesses across the country. For many years the Industry has been conscious of their environmental responsibilities and they have been proactive in furthering educational programs, including those concerning invasive garden plants. Garden escapes are not a new issue: weeds have been around since the first settlers brought along reminders of ‘home’ to help them settle into a new and strange land. How strange the Australian landscape must have seemed then, and how natural it would have been for the settlers to want only the tried and true familiar garden plants of the British Isles. Despite the difficulties of creating a garden in the Antipodes, it took many years for the average Australian to appreciate the native flora of this great land. Then, there were the early ’acclimatisation societies’ who thought it a good idea to introduce plants and animals from the old country and also to spread Australian native plants from state to state. Although great damage to the environment has occurred as a result of these indiscriminate introductions, this has not been solely the fault of the horticultural industry: certainly other industries have contributed. Graziers have imported new grasses and fodder crops and there were ‘accidental’ imports that came about unwittingly through inappropriate packaging, movement of plant and machinery, as seed in fodder and in ships’ ballast. However, the weed issue and who is actually responsible should not become a ‘blame game’. Together we must seek to repair what damage we can and to work together as a community to prevent similar damage occurring in the future. The Nursery & Garden Industry is actively participating in lessening the availability of invasive plants in Australia by preventing their production and sale. The Industry has recently established a greater understanding and cooperation with both State and Federal Governments, culminating in this important ‘Grow Me Instead’ booklet. Greater awareness and education of the home gardener is a major part of the answer to this problem. By using the information in the ‘Grow Me Instead’ booklet as a guide and consulting with your local garden centre or plant nursery, you can help to minimise garden escapes and create a better environmental future for following generations of gardeners. 4 4) What is Grow Me Instead? The original ‘Grow Me Instead’ booklet developed by the Nursery & Garden Industry NSW & ACT (NGINA) has now been extended as a national program by the Nursery & Garden Industry Australia (NGIA), in partnership with the Federal Government, to reduce the numbers and impact of invasive plants in Australia. ‘An environmentally invasive plant’ is just another term for a weed. Quite simply, a weed is any plant that poses a threat to the environment, adversely impacts human or animal health, or causes crop or stock losses. For most gardeners, many of the characteristics we most desire in garden plants are the same as those that make them weedy: i.e. plants that are fast growing and disease resilient and those which reproduce easily by the distribution of seeds or plant parts. A modern definition of a weed is “a plant that requires some form of action to reduce its effect on the economy, the environment, human health and amenity”. Many of the plants that are now considered to be ‘environmental weeds’ were introduced by early settlers, or by gardeners and farmers who had little or no knowledge of their future impact on the native environment. It is only in recent years that this threat has become apparent. Weediness is not confined to introductions from overseas. Some Australian native plants introduced from other regions may impact adversely on the natural environment. Non-indigenous (i.e. not local) species may invade and displace species natural to that area or they may cross pollinate to produce new species which may in time alter regional biodiversity. Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana) is a good example of the former, while many eucalypts are known to interbreed. Introduced species may sometimes be controlled in a foreign climate by various vectors such as small animals, insects, diseases or climatic conditions such as frost, thus reducing potential invasiveness. To gardeners, farmers or botanists, the term ‘weed’ may mean different things. Pasture weeds reduce the productivity of agricultural land and may also have negative effects on human and animal health. Environmental weeds cause various problems in natural areas and ecosystems and the cost of control for both farmers and government is estimated at billions of dollars per annum. 5 The purpose of this Grow Me Instead booklet... is to identify common garden plants that have now become environmental weeds in your local area, and to suggest better, alternative plants that benefit garden diversity while lessening their potential to become weeds of the future. Apart from nurseries, garden centres or the resources of the local botanic gardens, valuable information may be provided by the Bushcare division of your local council or shire or you may wish to check out their websites. Here you will find lists of declared weeds for the local area and contact details should you need further information regarding invasive plant identification and approved methods of disposal. It is important to reduce the spread of environmental weeds because... better and more effective management of invasive plants will help to reduce the high cost of chemical control, and to reduce the amount of time and energy lost in management of weeds in productive land for food crops, grazing land, cut flowers and forestry. Weed management in public spaces and on natural heritage land is costly, laborious and at times seems overwhelming. Invasive plants are defined and grouped as follows. 1. Noxious weeds - are those legally declared as noxious plants by the various State or Territory Governments. The declaration of noxious weeds will vary from state to state and from region to region within a state. In general, most state legislation will say that declared noxious plants cannot be grown, sold or transported or transposed, and removal is required. 2. Weeds of National Significance (‘WoNS’) - are some of the most significant weeds in Australia.